Oriented Strand Board (OSB) is an engineered structural-use panel manufactured from thin wood strands bonded together with resin under heat and pressure. OSB is used extensively for roof, wall, and floor sheathing in residential and commercial construction. Many building structures that include OSB are located in areas that are sunny and/or hot. These areas include southern California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Florida. The building structures in these locations typically have roof structures that inherently have minimal thermal insulating and emissivity barrier properties.
When in use and upon exposure to large durations of heat and/or sunlight, OSB will typically absorb and trap (i.e., retain) a significant portion of the radiant energy. The OSB will also typically emit (e.g., up to about 90%) the radiant energy. This results in an increase of the temperature on the inside of the dwelling (e.g., the attic). In fact, under conventional home construction conditions, the air temperature in attics and ceilings can be raised to about 140° F. or higher. Either the homeowner undergoes severe discomfort due to elevated temperatures inside the dwelling or they must pay a high price for installing and operating air conditioning. A considerable amount of energy, therefore, is typically expended to reduce the temperature of the inside of the dwelling. This energy may not only be costly, but may not be available during a given period of time (e.g., during a brown out or black out).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,814 issued to Hageman claims and discloses a roof structure. The roof structure includes roof decking material that includes a wood roof sheathing panel material having an inner side and an outer side; and a sheet of foil material having one surface adhered to the inwardly facing surface of sheet of sheathing panel material (See, e.g., claim 1).
The foil material disclosed therein includes a plurality of substantially uniformly distributed perforations through the foil material to permit passage of moisture therethrough (See, e.g., claim 1). The expressed reason for introducing the perforations into the foil material is to permit the passage of moisture between the moisture barrier layer and the roof (See, e.g., column 2, lines 42-49). In this way, it is thought that a significant portion of excess moisture can be released through the perforations located in the foil material thereby permitting the roof decking to “breathe” (See, e.g., column 2, lines 42-49). If a significant portion of the excess moisture is not released, unwanted degradation of the substrate can result (See, e.g., column 2, lines 42-49). Moisture can be present due to, for example, water vapor which enters the house during construction (before the roof is put on), or after construction from roof leaks of various types. Unwanted moisture can also result from the cumulative effect of vapor condensation. Moisture can also be introduced from the occupants in the building.
One drawback associated with the article of manufacture claimed and disclosed therein is that the density of the perforations is in the order of 125 per square inch, or 50 to 160 per square inch (See, e.g., column 3, lines 15-18). U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,814 does not disclose or suggest an article of manufacture having perforations on the order of about 50 or less, inclusive, while possessing suitable emmissivity and vapor permeable properties. As such, it would be beneficial to have a roof sheathing panel material with foil material adhered thereto wherein the foil material includes perforations on the order of about 50 or less, inclusive, while maintaining the suitable emmissivity and vapor permeable properties.
Another drawback associated with the article of manufacture claimed and disclosed therein is that the article of manufacture is manufactured in an “off line” or “cold press” manner. See, e.g., column 2-6. As such, the '814 patent does not disclose or suggest how to make the article of manufacture via an “in line” or “hot press” method. Forming a product that includes a wood-based composite panel and a metallic material adhered to the wood-based composite panel via an “in line” or “hot press” method would be relatively inexpensive and easier to manufacture, as compared to the article of manufacture manufactured via an “off line” or “cold press” method.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,495 B1, assigned to Louisiana-Pacific Corp., claims and discloses a method for producing a product which is an underlying substrate, having a pair of outer major surfaces and a radiant barrier material adhered to at least one of the pair of outer major surfaces of the underlying substrate with an adhesive material to form a radiant barrier material covered substrate. See, e.g., Abstract. A plurality of apertures are formed in the radiant barrier material covered substrate. See, e.g., Abstract. These apertures extend substantially completely through both the radiant barrier material and the adhesive material thereby forming substantially completely open moisture vapor flow channels which create a high level of moisture vapor permeability through the radiant barrier material and the adhesive material. See, e.g., Abstract. In this way, a substantial amount of trapped excess moisture can pass from the underlying substrate into the surrounding atmosphere to avoid unwanted degradation of the underlying substrate, while maintaining the low level of emissivity of the product. See, e.g., Abstract.
One drawback associated with the method of producing the article of manufacture claimed and disclosed therein is that method is limited solely to a “cold press” method and does not disclose or suggest producing the article of manufacture via a “hot press” method. Specifically, the method disclosed and recited therein requires for “providing an underlying wood-based product,” “adhering a radiant barrier material to at least one of said pair of outer surfaces of said underlying substrate . . . to form a radiant barrier material covered substrate,” and “forming said product by introducing a plurality of apertures into said radiant barrier material covered substrate.” See, e.g., claim 1. Forming a product which includes a wood-based composite panel and a metallic material adhered to the wood-based composite panel via a “hot press” method would be relatively inexpensive and easier to manufacture, as compared to the article of manufacture manufactured via a “cold press” method.
Another drawback associated with the method of producing the article of manufacture claimed and disclosed therein is that the adhesive employed in adhering the radiant barrier material (i.e., the backing layer and the metallic foil) to the underlying wood-based substrate may not be suitable under the “hot press” conditions (e.g., temperature and pressure). Specifically, the resin disclosed therein may not possess the requisite adhesiveness during the pressing stage. As such, the adhesive disclosed therein would likely not effectively maintain the adhesive properties during the manufacturing parameters of a “hot press” method.
Accordingly, what is needed is an article of manufacture useful in the wood products industry. The article of manufacture includes a wood-bases substrate and at least one layer of foil attached to the wood-based substrate. The foil will reflect a substantial amount of the radiant energy and/or will limit or stop a substantial amount of radiant energy from passing through. The radiant barrier OSB product can be manufactured via a “hot press” method. More specifically, the foil (with apertures located thereon) can be contacted with the flakes prior to the pressing stage, thereby providing a wood-based composite panel having a foil overlay.
The radiant barrier plywood product could be manufactured either via a “cold press” or a “hot press” manner. As such, each of the components of the article of manufacture can withstand the manufacturing conditions of any pressing stage involved in the manufacturing process of the article of manufacture. The manufacturing conditions include time, temperature, and pressure. More specifically, the foil, with apertures located thereon, can be contacted with the veneers prior to the pressing stage, thereby providing a wood-based composite panel having a foil overlay.
Additionally, what is needed is a method to produce an article of manufacture having a foil overlay via a “hot press” method. The article of manufacture will preferably include perforations or apertures on the order of about 50 or less, inclusive, while possessing suitable emmissivity and vapor permeable properties. The article of manufacture will include perforations or apertures located in the foil material that optionally do not become wholly or partially plugged by the adhesive material.